Catherine Rampell

WASHINGTON — In the economy-focused presidential campaign, the two candidates and their teams have scarcely mentioned what economists describe as not just one of the labor market’s most pressing problems, but the entire country’s: long-term unemployment.

Two Americans, Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd Shapley, were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science on Monday for their work on market design and matching theory, which relate to how people and companies find and select one another in everything from marriage to school choice to jobs to organ donations.

Peter A. Diamond PhD ’63, a nominee for a Federal Reserve Board position, and two collaborators were awarded the 2010 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science on Monday for their work on markets where buyers and sellers have difficulty finding each other.

For years the technology sector has been considered the most dynamic, promising and globally envied industry in the United States. It escaped the recession relatively unscathed, and profits this year have been soaring.

With the recession on the brink of becoming the longest in the postwar era, a milestone may be at hand: Women are poised to surpass men on the nation’s payrolls, taking the majority for the first time in American history.

Paul Krugman PhD ’77, a professor at Princeton University and an Op-Ed page columnist for The New York Times, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science on Monday. Krugman was formerly a professor at MIT and used to teach 14.02 (Principles of Macroeconomics).